This year marks the centenary of the prestigious Antonianum Magazine, one of the most important academic publications of the Order of Friars Minor. The first issue was published in January of 1926, the result of a project born in May 1925 under the pontificate of Pius XI.
The Magazine was the brainchild of then Minister General of the Order, Fr. Bernardino Klumper, who envisioned a publication with the primary purpose of offering a space to unify the scholarly work being done by friars scattered around the world. Initially conceived of as a tool only for the fraternity of Friars Minor, the Magazine evolved in a short time to become a point of reference for the larger academic community.
The first editorial team, led by Professor Livarius Oliger as editor-in-chief, included illustrious scholars such as Bertrand Kurtscheid for Canon Law, Zacharias Van de Woestyne for Speculative Philosophy, and Domenico Franzè as editor-in-chief. The journal immediately stood out from the rest for its multidisciplinary approach, dealing not only with theological and Biblical concerns, but also with philosophical, moral, mystical, Canonical, patristical, and ecclesial topics.
The linguistic choices made were also innovative and visionary. While maintaining Latin as the main language, the journal opened itself up to contributions from the most widespread modern languages such as English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. This international openness, together with the willingness to publish contributions from scholars external to the Order, has allowed the Antonianum Magazine to maintain its academic excellence and relevance to the present day.
